KUALA TERENGGANU: A female driver has pleaded not guilty to a charge of attempting to murder a Dungun Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) student in October last year.

The accused, Norizan Ismail, 50, made the plea before Judge Datuk Hassan Abdul Ghani after the charge was read out by an interpreter at the High Court, here today.

According to the charge, the mother of three children is alleged to have committed the act at 7.35 pm, Oct 9, 2024 at Jalan Pantai opposite the university, under Section 307(1) of the Penal Code.

If convicted, the accused can be jailed for up to 10 years and fined, and if the act causes injury to someone, then she can be jailed for a maximum of 20 years.

In the incident, Muhammad Ammar Danish Mohamad Ridhuan, who was 20 years old at the time, was injured after being hit from behind while riding a motorcycle with three other friends by the accused who was driving a sports utility vehicle (SUV).

The unfortunate incident caused the death of his three friends, Muhammad Akmal Md Tukirin, 25; Ku Adib Aizad Ku Azmi, 20; and Khairil Anwar Jamaludin, 20, at the scene.

The case was handled by deputy public prosecutor Mohd Khairuddin Idris while the accused was represented by lawyer Mohd Shahir Mat Jusoh.

The court set May 20 for the submission of trial documents.

On March 2, Norizan also pleaded not guilty to three charges under Section 302 of the same law for committing murder by causing the deaths of Muhammad Akmal, Ku Adib Aizad and Khairil Anwar.

The case, which has received nationwide attention, is continuing after the court previously ruled that Norizan is fit to stand trial based on a psychiatric examination report obtained from the Permai Hospital, Johor.